Toyota starts building Highlanders in Indiana

Toyota Motor Corp. says it began production today of its Highlander SUV at the company’s factory in Princeton, Ind.

The Japanese automaker said this summer it was spending $450 million to retool its 4,200-employee plant in Indiana, where the Sienna and Sequoia are built. The Highlander, which will be built on the same line as the Sequoia, is Toyota’s 12th North American-built model.

The retooling of the Indiana plant “is part of the adjustments Toyota began last year in order to better utilize manufacturing capacity,” the company said in a news release.

“Highlander production gives us better use of our capacity and demonstrates our continued commitment to the U.S. and the state of Indiana,” said Wil James, TMMI senior vice president.

The Highlander also is expected to help boost production at other Toyota factories — like its facility in West Virginia, where the Highlander’s six-cylinder engine is built — and at nearly 250 of Toyota’s North American suppliers.